Could it be related to massive waves from hurricane sandy ... They were registering all over ther rictor scale and that region is not designed for multiple quakes . Could sandys wake have ruptured the gaslines? The ramifications of this could be catastrophic

We have an abandoned flood house next to us. About a month after we moved in I started catching whiffs of natural gas coming from the front of this house. Called the gas company. They came out and said they weren't going to do anything about it and that leaks like this (from underground pipes) were common throughout the city (Cedar Rapids, IA.) They are "harmless" the technician told me.

I wasn't having it so I called and after three visits the last technician said he convinced someone higher up to fix it. They repaired the leaky pipe the next day.

It's scary they say this is a common problem and then ignore it? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I can only imagine what the infrastructure is like in other cities and I speculate that the attitude towards these leaks is the same in other areas too.

The cast iron piping that was used for gas main feeds and for lines from the feed to the house meters was installed as far back as 150 years. That was "state of the art" then. Sadly, cast iron will rust thru in time, and the joints (most are screwed together with exterior couplings and both ends of the pipe having male threads joining in the female coupling) tend to work themselves loose over years of expansion and contraction with every freeze/thaw cycle. Many older cities put these pipes above the water and sewer lines but supposedly below the frost line. However, getting the frost line location "right" was largely a guess back then. So much of this piping is not buried deeply enough to avoid the freeze/thaw cycle every year.

Today we have PEX Plastics with Aluminum embedded in them and they're joined by being welded together. The weld is stronger than the pipe itself and cannot leak once done properly.

Every major gas company in the nation should have been digging up and replacing these old cast iron pipe distribution systems for the last 50 years and yet almost none have! Why? Corporate profits? Wonder what the lawsuits are going to cost them? How will those 30 and 50 million dollar settlements (several of them) look on their precious balance sheets?

I live in the suburbs of Boston. Do you think it's safe anywhere near the city? I know ppl who live in the city too scary to think of all the leaks. And if someone smelled gas they probably wouldn't think anything of it cause of all the weird smells lol.

Thats scary, it just takes a spark here or there. I hope they get on that right away and start repairing the leaks. With all the ground expansion, and everything else going on, geez mother nature give us a break.

Could it be related to massive waves from hurricane sandy ... They were registering all over ther rictor scale and that region is not designed for multiple quakes . Could sandys wake have ruptured the gaslines? The ramifications of this could be catastrophic

Quoting: Indego

Thats the second time I have heard about waves from Sandy fracturing lines and its got to be the most rediculous thing I have ever heard.

Think about waves for a minute and then go back to school.

There taliking about the whole of boston and suburbs inland for 100 miles.

"The world will soon wake up to the reality that everyone is broke and can collect nothing from the bankrupt, who are owed unlimited amounts by the insolvent, who are attempting to make late payments on a bank holiday in the wrong country, with an unacceptable currency, against defaulted collateral, of which nobody is sure who holds title."

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

The woman who is not pursued sets up the doctrine that pursuit is offensive to her sex, and wants to make it a felony. No genuinely attractive woman has any such desire. - H.L. Mencken, In Defense Of Women